


Upheaval

by gerudianmango



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-14
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-07-24 01:44:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7488486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gerudianmango/pseuds/gerudianmango
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Princess Zelda and the Royal Family are murdered by assassins and the cycle becomes corrupted. In order to preserve the timeline the Goddesses decide to call in a Zelda from another doomed timeline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, thanks for checking out my first fanfic! It's been extremely fun coming up with this AU idea, so I decided to actually try my hand at writing it. 
> 
> It's not beta-read since I currently don't have a beta. 
> 
> All comments are of course welcome!

Zelda knows that she should probably stop taking Leoni's batches of failed drugs, but damn her she enjoys the high way too much. Although it's the best damn high she's ever had, at the same time it most likely causes her to get into more than half of the bad situations she's ever been in. Like the time that she was caught half naked in the mall with Viacka, drunkenly trying to fish all of the coins out of the fountain, or the time that she had to be pinned down and escorted from a club for harassing the male Gerudo stripper with a laughing Salva following her. 

Currently, Zelda is running away from about twenty different LARP loving Hylians, who are covered in armor and chasing her with the best looking spear props that she's ever seen. She didn't know that the museum hosts parties like this. In fact, she knows that the head archivist is one of the most anal Zora that she's ever met. 

Even in Zelda's drug induced state she's not feeling too worried about the men chasing her, she knows that she can outrun them. That's when she hears a slight _whoosh_ near her ear and screams when the spear that was thrown at her, yes _thrown_ , lodges itself in the floor in front of her. Her drug addled mind finally mentally slaps her in the face, screaming at her that something is wrong with these people and she can't get caught by them. Her heart rate picks up and her breathing shallows and she begins to really sprint away from the guards.

"What's your fucking problem?" Zelda screeches at them as she sprints down what feels like the longest hallway in Hyrule history. The sound of pursuit follows her closely as she weaves in between the furniture and displays, also dodging the occasional spear tossed in her direction. She decides that it can't get much worse, when she hears the tell tale sign of a spell charging up. 

The goddesses actually fucking hate her. 

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, _shit_."

The white spell charges flew across the narrow hallway with clear _ping_ noises, making Zelda slow at some points in order to dodge the now magic and physical spears. She hears the excited shouts of the men as they slowly gain on her. She grits her teeth and raises her left hand, hating the fact that they'd actually made her rely on her magic. Zelda focuses on the door at the end of the hall and _through_ it, feeling her body shift through space to land behind the door. When she lands, she sees nothing but an endless staircase heading downward and hesitates a moment before hearing the crash of the guards hitting the door. 

"Fuck it." 

Zelda practically flies down the stairs, keeping her left hand on the wall as the stairs curve. She doesn't know what part of the castle she's in and she prided herself on knowing all the nooks and crannies of the old ratty museum she called home. 

She lands on the final step, clearing the doorway and sees some curtains hanging near the doors. She races over and pulls open the curtains, ready to see what kind of joke Leoni and Viacka have placed her in and she gasps, her breath shallowing in panic. 

This can't be happening. There is no possible way that this could be happening. _This can't be happening_. 

The city is small, only surrounding the castle for about a couple of blocks, the buildings short and completely made out of stone and not the metal skyscrapers that Zelda is used to. Shit man, she can even see a giant field in the background, with Death Mountain in plain sight. It's clear to her then that she's not anywhere _near_ the Hyrule she knows. 

She can't take this. Her breaths aren't filling her lungs, and she pants. Panic attack. Small black spots begin to mar her vision and she can distantly hear the sounds of metal hitting the stone steps. Her drug induced mind is really not helping her right now and she's already tired from the first teleport she's had to do. She slaps herself hard, forcing herself to take deep breaths and wills down the attack. 

Zelda refuses to be caught here.

She quickly scans the room that she's in and notes that there's only one exit: the door she came in from. 

" _Shit_."

The clamoring of the men are getting more and more pronounced, making Zelda fumble around trying to come up with an idea. She rests her head against the window, the cool glass soothing her for a second and peers out again. She scans the rooftops near her, then she looks down. Zelda practically plasters herself to the window when she notices the first horse. She squints, counting one, two, three horses all the way on the ground before she decides it's a stable. Also, known as her way out.

The men have finally neared the end of the stairs, making Zelda jump. She flails around once more before finding a small chair and grabbing it by the legs. She hefts it above her head, the furniture piece surprisingly heavy and chucks it at the window. The glass splinters spectacularly and she grins, turning to look at the surprised faces of some of the guards in the doorway. 

Zelda doesn't stay to admire her handiwork. She takes about three steps back and steels herself, then charges forward, straight through the new hole that she's made. 

The first two seconds she's in the air the light assaults her eyes, but the view of the small town and the sun setting on the horizon are so fucking beautiful, she can't help but laugh.

Then she begins to fall and hate herself to the pits of Demise all over again. The ground and imminent death rushes towards her, but since the window she jumped through was pretty damn high she has time. She focuses on her magic and the nearby rooftop, feeling herself rush forward to land clumsily on the roof tiles. The roof tiles are also slippery as fucking hell and it takes her a good amount of flailing to actually get good traction against them. 

Zelda raises both fists in the air and whoops, the adrenaline strong through her body. Her minor celebration is cut off once more as the guards and mages still throw their spears from the broken window down onto her. She flips them off before making the final jump, landing messily into the rose bushes lining the base of the wall. 

She's lying there for about 5 seconds enjoying the peace before she hears heavy snorting, she groggily lifts her head up before screaming as the biggest fucking bullbo charges at her. It takes her a couple of seconds of her screeching at it and failing to extract herself from the rose bush to realize that one, the bullbo behind some fence and two, it's strung up to all hell, making it so that it can only reach the tiny water basin about three feet away from it. The castle buildings must've blocked it from her view.

Zelda finally manages to wring free of the stupid rose bush, she shakes herself, slowly heading towards the stable while eyeing the boar, just as it warily watches her. It was a king bullbo, the kinds where she saw were trained to fight in tournaments and the kind that the Bulbin gangs payed millions of rupees for. It was extremely mistreated from what she could tell, blue fur overgrown in some areas and falling off in others. She could even count some of its ribs from the sides. The worst part was the giant muzzle that was fitted over its massive tusks, strapped heavily to the back of its head. Before she knew it Zelda was by the side of the fence of the bullbo. It tried to run at her again a couple of times before giving up and laying on its side, defeated.

Zelda looks at the poor creature, then at the stables, and back to the bullbo. She curses herself for her bleeding heart and jumps the fence, slowly walking towards the creature with her body low and her posture passive. It snorts harder when she nears, but ultimately lets her approach, hopefully understanding that she was here to help, rather than torture. 

Once she is close enough to the side of the bullbo she pats her pockets, digging into them before triumphantly bringing out her favorite serrated folding knife. When she flicks it open, the bullbo immediately tenses and makes small growling noises. 

"Woah there," Zelda soothes. "Just trying to get you free buddy."

Somehow the bullbo calms once more but still glares at her, untrusting. Zelda exhales the breath that she didn't know she was holding. 

In the vision of the bullbo, she reaches towards the closest rope and quickly cuts through it, the rope making a snap as it loses its tension. The bullbo tenses again, but this time in anticipation and Zelda takes this as permission to reach down and snap the main ropes that were attached to its ankles. 

When she's done she steps to the head of the bullbo and slowly reaches for its muzzle, carefully fingering along the fur to find the straps that kept the contraption brutally stuck to its head. Finding the straps she makes eye contact, it's red intelligent eyes taking in her form, and she slices through the offending leather with heavy satisfaction. She quickly backs away as soon as the action is done and waits. 

The bullbo slowly raises its head and shakes it violently to one side, causing the muzzle to fly through the air and hit the fence with a dull _thud_. It rises to its feet, proud and strong despite its condition, and it _roars_ full of freedom and triumph. Zelda grins at it before shuffling backwards towards the edge of the fence. 

It shifts its gaze towards her and she freezes like a deer caught in a headlight. It slowly approaches her, and Zelda stills, holding her breath as it slowly snuffles her and breathes in her scent. 

Then she hears the sound of doors banging open and the angry shouts of the guards. 

Zelda panics harder, unable to move from the bullbo and run, but suddenly the bullbo takes a step back and she clutches her chest as she tries to make her lungs work once more. The bullbo then lowers itself onto its knees. 

Zelda just stares at it. 

It snorts back, impatient.

It wants her to fucking _ride_ it, her brain tells her helpfully. 

"Uh, so... Do I just?" Zelda stammers as she nears the bullbo. It snorts impatiently goading her to crawl onto its back. She's ridden enough times on Viacka's motorcycle to automatically slide her legs onto the sides and use her knees to keep her on the bullbo's back. 

She barely has enough time to grab onto it's wild mane before it roars once more and shoots off faster than a bullet, easily smashing through the fence and racing towards the metal gate in the castle wall. 

Zelda's screaming on top of her lungs, the bullbo roaring along in pleasure and it lowers its tusks to crash through the gate, almost knocking her off and sending a couple of unfortunate guards flying through the air on the other side. 

The main gates of the castle are somehow open, with carriages serenely moving through them. None of the guards or the nobles inside are expecting a giant ass bullbo and a screaming woman to pass them at high speed. 

Zelda hides her face in the bullbo's mane and just holds on for dear life and lets it decide where to go. They make it past the town gates, again running through the guards there and finally to the field where the bullbo doesn't stop or slow down. 

The bullbo keeps going for what seems like days before stopping. Zelda raises her head, weak as a newborn from trying to stay on the bullbo and the crash of both her high and the adrenaline from the chase. Her vision is blurry before it slowly clears she sees that they had made it to some kind of spring, the water clear and the forest around thick, providing the perfect cover from any pursuing parties. 

Zelda's gaping at the beauty of the spring when the bullbo shakes her off, and Zelda flies off of its back to land solidly on her ass on the hard ground. She crawls onto her knees and rubs her sore ass and glares at the bullbo. The bullbo ignores her in favor of dunking its head into the spring. 

"Well screw you too big guy." Zelda snarks at it, it growls back as it shakes water from its head. 

Zelda crawls forward on her hands and knees over to the water and places her hands inside. She groans at the pleasurable coolness of the water and is content to simply sit there for years, the fatigue biting at her muscles. She leans back and removes her hands from the water, shaking them and patting them on her cargo pants to dry them a bit before reaching down and undoing the laces on the thick combat boots that she wears. She then removes her socks, stuffs them in her boots and places them all next to her as she slides her feet into the shallow water of the spring. She leans back on her hands and sighs in contentment, letting the water relieve some of the pain from landing poorly on the roof and rose bush.

Zelda's dozing off, ready to fall asleep, when she hears the bullbo move again. She blearily opens her eyes and manages to avoid her fingers from getting crushed as the bullbo lies heavily in the spot where her hands were. 

"Thanks alot asshole." She grouches, annoyed that she lost her nice spot, and it snorts back at her in laughter. 

Cautiously Zelda leans back until her backside is lying lightly against it. The bullbo growls encouragingly, so she drops her full weight onto its side. She pets some of its blue fur in thanks and shifts, so her side is leaning against the bullbo and her toes are still dipped in the water. 

Zelda yawns and the bullbo curls around her more tightly, warming her with its body. She closes her eyes, unable to stay awake and shifts more comfortably into the warm body surrounding her.

Zelda and the bullbo fall asleep to the chirping of birds and the flowing water of the spring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, I never knew writing was going to be so time consuming. I'm really enjoying myself though! 
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me and hopefully I can really get the plot going. 
> 
> Still not beta-read as I still don't have a beta :P
> 
> Don't hesitate to comment!

It takes some time for Zelda to wake up, but when she does, she feels refreshed and not like she just had a stare down with death while high a couple of hours ago. She's still snuggled up with the bullbo and when she inhales as she stretches she chokes, it smells like it hasn't been cleaned in _years_. She coughs and carefully scrambles away from the bullbo, still not wanting to wake it and risk its ire. It's early in the morning, but still late enough for the sun to begin its lazy ascent, providing Zelda with enough light to be able to see. She picks up her boots and walks along the shore of the spring until she can actually breathe without tasting the musk of dirty bullbo. 

Zelda sits down and begins to check her pruned feet. From the fall that she took from both onto the roof and the bushes, they should definitely have been sore to all and have some scratches from the rose thorns. When she runs her fingers along the arch of her foot, there's no bruises or sores to be found. 

"Weird." She mumbles, reaching over to grab her socks and shove her feet into them. 

Zelda crosses her legs underneath her digs into her pockets, taking out all of the junk she usually keeps in there to take stock of what she has. When she's done amassing her items, she comes up with a pack of gum, her serrated folding knife, her phone, and finally her earphones. Clothes wise, she is dressed in her delivery outfit, complete with her cargo pants, combat boots, long sleeved compression shirt, and her favorite windbreaker. She scans her inventory once more and comes up with a solid conclusion.

She is completely and utterly fucked. 

Zelda has no solid way of collecting or storing water for long term travel, no form of sustenance. She guesses that she's lucky to at least have a weapon, no matter how small it is compared to the spears and swords that she saw the guards to have. Her phone is already upgraded to the most recent model, with built in solar panels so she doesn't have to worry about keeping it charged.

She's too busy wallowing in self-pity to notice that the spring is starting to glow. When the light becomes nearly blinding is when she actually notices and looks up, shielding her eyes from the light. When it dies down there's a giant ass goat staring her down. 

Zelda can't believe this is her life now.

The goat, true to her description, is massive. It's total length probably reached about 60 feet long and it was taller than a 2 story building. It was ethereally beautiful, with tattoos of pure light swirling along its back to end in its tail. The most striking thing about it was the ball of light that was embedded into the center of its golden horns, emanating its strength and holy power. 

She coughs, trying to break the mood as it just stares at her, not moving or even flicking its tail. 

"So... I guess this is your spring, huh?" She starts of conversationally, mind blown over the fact that this place has actual spirits. The spirits died way before her lifetime back home. 

It keeps staring at her, unwavering and still not saying anything. 

Zelda begins to sweat a little and bite her lip nervously. She wrings her hands, unsure if she can move to start shoving her things back into her pockets or not. She's halfway from reaching for her folding knife when the spirit speaks. 

"Welcome, Bearer of Wisdom." The spirit booms, its voice deep and throaty.

Zelda looks behind her to see who the spirit is talking to. When she sees that there's no one she flails a bit. 

"I'm pretty sure you got the wrong Hylian my ma- Spirit, uh holy deity?" Zelda sputters, mentally slapping herself for already making a fool of herself in front of a freaking spirit. 

"O wise youth... I am Ordona, one of the four spirits that protects Hyrule at the behest of the gods." It raises its head, proudly bearing its horns. "You are blessed and marked by the power of the goddesses. It is clear through your entire being... My man."

Zelda just stares at it. The spirit of light, Ordona, was sassing her. This is beyond the land of things that are weird. 

"Your very presence here proves of your power and destiny," Ordona continues, "The goddesses called for aid across the realms and you readily answered the call."

It takes Zelda an embarrassing amount of time to process everything, still caught over the fact that she's the legendary Bearer of Wisdom. She can barely stop herself from binge shopping let alone be the fucking bearer. And when did she even accept the request? She would've remembered being approached by the fucking goddesses. Unless... 

Unless she's high as balls trying to get back to her apartment. Zelda swears. Of course something as big and fucked up would approach her when she's intoxicated. She can already feel the headache coming from a mile away.

She scrubs her face with both hands then massages her temples. "Look, I don't mean to be rude but this is just all a giant mistake. I don't think I'm the person that the goddesses wanted for their little job, and in fact I'm pretty sure that I was on cloud nine when the goddesses sent their space mail. It's been magical time, truly, but I really think that you guys should just let me skedaddle on home and call another person that's more... _Qualified_ for whatever you want."

"The goddesses scoured the Zeldas across the realms, and they picked the most 'qualified' of all." Ordona replies dryly. "You."

"Come on, you can probably sense my so called 'power'. I can barely cast three spells without exhausting myself! There's no way that I would've been the first candidate." Zelda complains. 

"You have yet to realise your true power, o bearer." Ordona says, amusement clear in its tone. "When you find it you will have all the answers you need. Come now, the goddesses bear gifts for your journey." 

Ordona raised its head, its tail flicking back and forth as light concentrated in front of its nose. It grew a bit brighter before dropping to reveal a pack. When it lowered the pack down to her, she recognized it immediately. It was the continental rucksack that she used on her more suspicious deliveries. 

"Find the Bearer of Courage in the desert to the east. He will help you on your journey." By the time that it finished speaking, Ordona's form was fading. 

"Wait, please!" Zelda begged, her voice taking on an increasing higher pitch. "What are you talking about 'true power'? And who is the Bearer of Courage, what journey?" But Ordona already left, the light from the spring diminishing and leaving Zelda to panic on her own. 

Zelda sat back heavily, clutching her pack, the complete weight of the conversation hitting her like a gunshot. So many questions still buzzed around in her head. How could she be the Bearer of Wisdom and what is her so called 'true power', not to mention she was to embark on a journey with no known destination or purpose. And finally who was this Bearer of Courage, and how was he supposed to help her anyway?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden sharp pain on the flat of her hand. The searing pain continued as she lifted her hand, and to her surprise a symbol consisting of three golden triangles began to etch itself into her skin. When it finished, fat tears fell from her face and Zelda sobbed, unable to understand why the goddesses chose _her _. She curled around herself and buried her face into her pack.__

She sobbed and cried for what felt like hours, her tears refusing to stop. When she finally exhausted her tears, she simply sat there, curled around her pack and forced her mind to clear. She felt an exhale of warm breath on the back of her neck and slowly raised her head and looked behind her.

The bullbo was standing mere inches from Zelda's face and it still smelled worse than a wet dog, but she didn't make a move to get away from it. The bullbo shuffled closer carefully, minding its massive tusks and began to wipe her tear stained face with the muzzle of its snout. Zelda feels herself tear up again at its compassion and she throws herself at the bullbo, wrapping her arms around its thick neck and shoving her face into the thick blue fur. It simply curls up around her and allows her to cry once more, the occasional whine leaving it. 

When Zelda truly exhausts herself she pulls her arms away, shrinking into herself. The bullbo snorts and herds her to the shore of the spring. She laughs quietly, allowing herself to be maneuvered to the water. Her boots are still at the shore, along with the rest of her items. She drops her pack with the rest of them and takes her socks off again. She walks into the shallow water and bends down and washes her face, clearing the tear stains and feeling the relief of the cool water against her skin. 

This time the spring shines in a small circle around her ankles, and she feels the rush of rejuvenating energy coarse through her. She thanks Ordona quietly and wades slowly to the shore. 

Zelda sits in front of all her items and opens her pack, flipping it upside down and shaking all of the contents loose. The first thing that pops out is her unfinished delivery of drugs, containing LSD, marijuana, ecstasy, and shrooms. She doesn't have to worry about not getting high for the next couple of months. The next thing that slides out is her tablet (which also has built in solar panels), following that are her notebook and pencil case. She opens her pencil case to find a utility knife with blade replaceables, a couple ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils, and a pair of scissors. Zelda definitely didn't have the knife in there before, so she guesses that it was one of the 'gifts'. 

"What a shitty gift." She snorts. 

When she finds her large refillable water bottle inside of the side pouch, she whoops with joy, finally having found something that's useful. She pops open the clasps on the front pouch and pulls out a couple of granola bars, also a huge success, and some hair bands. The pack still feels heavy so she flips it again and shakes it vigorously until an armored gauntlet falls out of the pack and onto her lap.

The gauntlet is made of from what she can tell, high quality leather on the inside as it is soft and padded. On the outside, the glove has metal plates that has engraving similar to what she saw on Ordona. The flat of the glove also has the symbol of the golden triangles that is now etched into the back of her own hand. The metal twists around what seemed to be an indent on the center of the lower arm, and Zelda wonders what it could be used for. She pushes the arm of her windbreaker up, exposing the lower half of her left arm and slides the gauntlet onto her left hand. Its surprisingly snug, the fingers and wrist following every one of her movements without any awkwardness as she clenches and unfurls her fingers. 

Zelda keeps the gauntlet on as she quickly repacks the rest of her things and slings her rucksack onto her back, putting on her socks and shoes. She faces the bullbo, finding it to be a reasonable distance from her, hopefully letting her actually breathe without having to smell it. She walks closer to the boar, despite the smell places her right hand on its tusk. 

"I guess I should name you. Huh, buddy?" Zelda says, absently patting it. "How about Sir Imaler?"  
It snorts in annoyance, but pushes at her gently.

"Alright alright. Hmm, Lord Bullbo?" It growls a negative. "King?" Another growl. "Porkchop." It made an offended noise. Zelda giggled, "Fine if you don't like masculine names how about feminine." It made an approving noise, so it- she was female. Who would've guessed. She thought for a moment, scourging her brain for a name. When she found one, it just felt _right_ , out of all the possible names to give the boar. "Ok, so what do you think of Impa?" Impa approved right away, roaring her consent. "Impa it is." 

With Impa in tow, Zelda makes her way towards the entrance of the spring, noting the smashed gate haphazardly hanging by its hinges. From the gate, there's probably a village nearby, which means she can get some supplies. A plan formulates in her head: find the village, get some soap, possibly a saddle for Impa, grab some food, and most importantly a map. 

She takes a left as soon as she exits the spring and follows the well beaten path onto her journey.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's go Zelda! 
> 
> Zelda's new gauntlet was based off if the design done by dresdencodak on tumblr! You should check them out their art is phenomenal!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Villagers are really blind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, sorry about not updating the past couple of weeks! I've been preparing to move into my dorm and getting all of my classes in order. 
> 
> Thanks for sticking around, and please enjoy!
> 
> Still not beta-read since I still don't have a beta.

Zelda only has to walk for a couple of miles until she finds, from what the sign says, the village of Ordon. The sun is high in the sky, beating down on her as she sneaks around, trying to commit all the buildings to memory so that when she starts her heist at night, she won't be blindly charging into a mess. The village is small but extremely charming, the people there content and merry, all of them greeting each other warmly and gossiping the most recent news. 

Zelda positions herself behind some logs next to a house then moves silently from hiding spot to hiding spot. She makes it underneath a small wooden bridge when two ladies began walking across it, gossiping amongst themselves.

“Did you hear about Princess Zelda?” The first of the two asked.

“Oh yes, completely dreadful,” The other replied with a sniff. “Not to mention the entire royal family was also wiped out.”

“Were they? Hmm, even the distant cousins? I’m sure that they have someone to take over the throne.”

“No even the distant relatives went missing! Apparently they found the body of an uncle crushed to bits, even parts of the house was destroyed, some sick man with a hammer got to them.”

“Really? Oh dear, that’s truly shameful. May the Goddesses watch over them all.”

“And then about two days ago, some servant said that they saw Princess Zelda alive and well in the castle! During the funeral of all times,” The first woman clucked her tongue. “She strolled right in the middle of the ceremony, she did. Caused quite a ruckus, what with the guards and the mages chasing after her; Even made off with a bullbo they were trying to tame.”

“Maybe she’s an imposter? There should be no way that the Princess could be alive, with the scale of the attack the assassins lead a week ago.”

“The damn Gerudo are at it again, it seems. It wasn’t enough that they murdered the Royal Family, they try to plant their own imposter within the castle. What nerve!” 

The ladies soon walked out of Zelda’s hearing range. Well shit, her situation made infinitely more sense to her now. From what she could tell, it seems that someone had tried, and succeeded, to wipe out all of the present and future Bearers of Wisdom. Zelda held her head in her hands and groaned inwardly, so this is why she was dragged here from her timeline. And to top it all off, these people seemed to be extremely racist against the Gerudo and pinned her as a Gerudo imposter. She sneered after the ladies, her disgust building.

In her timeline, all races were generally accepted across Hyrule. However, hate crimes, discrimination, and prejudice between the races existed on some level. Hylian superiority heavily spanned throughout the country and went generally unnoticed, or the people went blind and ignorant towards it. Zelda couldn’t understand the ignorance that many of the Hylian people willingly went through and it frustrated her to no end. This racism also proved to be a double-edged problem. If the racism existed so strongly within the Hylians of this time, she could safely assume that the hate was reciprocated just as strongly within the Gerudo. This could cause her to be shunned from help when she ventured to the desert. Zelda massaged her temples and sighed, she supposed she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

She crept to the edge of the shadows underneath the bridge and peered out carefully. It seemed the mayor of this town lived in the most decorated house with the double doors. Zelda couldn’t think of anyone that could be more important in a small town and her suspicions were soon confirmed as a large man with a peculiar mustache left the house and began to check on everyone within the village. The villagers deferred to him with respect, and they bowed to him slightly when their conversations ended. Target acquired. Hopefully his house contained the maps of Hyrule that she desperately needed. Zelda carefully backtracked and retreated into the forest. 

When she found Impa, the boar was digging around in the ground, uprooting plants and munching on them. She made a noise in greeting, which was reciprocated by Impa, and sat down heavily on the ground. She picked up a branch from the ground nearby her and drew a crude outline of the village, with small huts as the houses and little stick figures to represent the villagers. She circled the furthest house twice to label it as the target.

“Ok, Impa come here.” Zelda beckoned the boar closer with her stick. Impa snorted, but came closer to peer down at the drawings.

“From what I saw, this is what the village consists of. Now our plan is to get into the mayor’s house,” Zelda pointed at the circled house with the stick. “Hopefully, there will a map of Hyrule that we need or something similar.”

“What I need to safely get into the house is a distraction, one that you can easily provide.” She points around the entrance of the village with her stick, “Just run around them, fight back if they are really close to harming you, but otherwise I think that you are smart and fast enough to run circles around all of them.” Impa snorts her confirmation.

Zelda claps her hands together and rubs them; grinning and cackling like an old cartoon villain. 

“Alright, let’s do this!” 

▲▲▲

The moon is bright in the sky, providing the perfect amount of light for Zelda to see as she crawled through the underbrush of the forest. When she nears the mayor’s house, she let out a sharp, piercing whistle. A couple of seconds later, she heard Impa’s roar, the scale and ferocity of it scaring all the birds around her. The villagers slammed their doors open, some bearing farming tools as weapons, shouting amongst themselves about a monster attack. 

From her vantage point in the forest, she saw one of the double doors slowly creak open as the mayor left his house while carrying a large hoe. Impa then started to bring down some of the young trees on the outskirts of the entrance to the village, causing them to crash down noisily. The villagers all rushed to the mayor, their panic ebbing a bit as he began shouting orders. Once the mayor was done they all left the village as a group. 

Zelda waited a couple of moments before sliding down from the forest edge to the side of the house. She carefully snuck around to the front of the house and then to the doors. The door on the right was still slightly open from when the mayor left, so she slips into his home easily. The house is a bit dark, the light from the moon is not bright enough through the windows, and it becomes a bit hard to navigate through the house. She skirts around a kitchen table, and after tripping on the fourth knick knack on the ground, she begrudgingly takes her phone out and flicks the flashlight option on. 

The light makes a world of a difference to her and she can actually see everything around her. She hurtles the rest of the pots on the ground and bee lines for the bookshelves. From there she rummages around, occasionally glancing through a book or two, until she finds a small painting lodged deep into the pages. In it stands the mayor, happy as can be, and a girl who Zelda could only guess was his daughter. She was pretty, with her dirty blonde hair braided tightly and a distinctive horseshoe necklace. 

Zelda put the painting back carefully, and then resumed her search. She went through about three more books and two more scrolls before she found one resembling a map. She cheered silently, shoving her backpack off her shoulders and placing the scroll inside. She had to look through a couple more scrolls before she found a map of the desert. Perfect, she already was one step closer to actually being prepared for her journey. 

From the bookshelves Zelda made her way over to what seemed to be a small kitchen. She quickly made her way through the cabinets, grabbing the bread and fruit left on top of the counter. Zelda just needed some preserved food then she would be perfect for the long journey. 

Her luck ran thin as she heard Impa’s signaling roar, the villagers were returning to their homes. Zelda flails a bit before sprinting towards the door, while trying to shove the bread and fruit she stole into her pack. She makes it to the door, fumbling with her phone to turn off the lights and slips out the door. She can’t leave the village through the entrance like she hoped, and the ledge to the forest floor is too high for her to reach it. 

“Fuuuuuuuuuuck.” Zelda whines, biting her lip before taking her chances and running up the hill. This is so risky of her, as she didn’t even glance into this area when she was snooping around earlier. To her luck, there was a gate at the top of the hill, enclosing off a meadow for what seems like livestock grazing. She reaches the gate and began to climb. When she brings her leg over the top of the gate, she notices that there’s a small house with a relatively large barn next to it. If Ordona was a goat, and this was the town of Ordon, Zelda can probably bet her ass that the livestock that they used were goats. 

She sprinted over to the barn doors and lifted the heavy latch. She pushed the door with so much force, it slammed against the other door with a loud boom. The goats inside breyed in either fear or annoyance and kicked against their stalls. Zelda went inside the barn and quickly scanned it, noticing the stacked boxes and items against the far wall and approached them. She rummaged around the boxes finding some leather and even a small saddle. Minding the map scrolls inside, she took off her pack and placed the food and leather inside. The saddle was obviously too big for the back so she set it on her shoulder after she slung the pack on. There was one small bag shoved into the corner of the barn, behind the boxes. When Zelda reached and opened the bag she found a pair of scissors and fur shears. She couldn't really tell what the rest of the items were in the dark but it seemed to be a grooming kit for the goats. She slung that bag over the other shoulder and decided that she really needed to leave. 

Zelda exited the barn only to be almost stampeded by Impa. Impa was restless and excited from her diversion and snorted at Zelda impatiently to get on her back. Zelda complied easily and climbed her massive back, securing herself with her knees and checking both the bag and the saddle before Impa shot off again, smashing into one of the side gates of the clearing and deep into the forest with Zelda laughing along to her roars. 

▲▲▲

Eventually the strain of carrying the items and trying to stay on Impa was too much for Zelda and they stopped next to a small stream. Zelda slung the grooming bag off first with a soft thud against the ground, the saddle soon followed with finally her pack. She dropped herself heavily onto a small boulder next to her items and groaned at her sore shoulders and rear. Riding an unsaddled beast, is not a good idea whatsoever for both her ass and her thighs. The crunching of leaves brought Zelda back to look at Impa, who wandered further down to a deeper part of the stream to dunk her face into. Zelda decided to leave her alone and went back to trying to massage some soreness out of her ass and thighs. She would actually kill for some of the magic spring water right now and she lamented not filling her canteen before leaving. 

Once her ass was decidedly not trying to murder her, she picked up the bag with the possible grooming supplies in it. She took out the scissors and shears she saw earlier and then dug deeper until she got a large block in some leather pouch. She pulled the cords at the top of the pouch and was bombarded with the scent of herbs. When she pulled the leather away, the pouch revealed some white block with green flecks inside. It was slick and left a small amount of substance on the tips of her fingers. She had found some soap and she practically wept at the discovery. She reverently put the soap back into the pouch and set it with the other items. From then, its just a piece of steel that she assumes is to sharpen the other items again and a thick heavy brush and comb. Overall, a priceless treasure right now to Zelda. 

The sun is making its slow descent from the East, making the forest around her brighten in dull grey light. It's late enough that soon the forest will wake and the sun will shine through the leaves above. When she stands and stretches, wincing from the soreness of her thighs and ass, she feels gross, the oil and filth of the last couple of days staining her skin. She plucks her knife from her pocket and strips her clothes off, peeling the compression shirt off her skin and then removing her sports bra. She kicks her boots off and stuffs her socks into them and shoves her cargo pants and underwear, folding them roughly before making a pile of her clothes. She opens her knife and the soap pouch, cutting herself a generous portion to use before closing both the pouch and knife, tucking them away into her pack safely. 

"Hey Impa" Zelda calls, waving the bullbo over as she wades into the shallow shore of the stream. Impa comes with some reluctance as she was scavenging for roots in the stream shore. Zelda shows her the soap she found. 

"Look, we can finally clean ourselves, I'll get myself done first then do you, alright?" Impa snorts in confirmation, trotting to the shore of the stream and settling herself down. 

Zelda cleans herself with quick efficiency, working all of the sweat and grime from her body to removing all of the oil in her short hair. She also scrubs her clothes, wringing them out and setting them on top of some rocks that outcrop the stream. She feels infinitely better once she wipes all the suds off of her body, then she beckons Impa over. Impa rises with a grunt then enters the stream slowly, then promptly sits in the shallow water for Zelda to be able to reach her back. Zelda takes her time soaping up Impa, the first scrub coming up with an impossible amount of grime, the bubbles darkening with it. She cards her fingers through Impa's mane and untangles what she can with her fingers. Most of the tangles, she finds, are mainly because of the dried blood that was carelessly left behind during Impa's imprisonment. She scoops up handfuls of water and rinses the first layer as much as she can. 

The second scrub of the soap comes up with a lighter shade of bubbles and Impa relaxes into Zelda's fingers as she gets some tangles behind her ears and gets the grime off of her muzzle and head. The final scrub uses the rest of the soap that Zelda's cut and she finally gets a light shade of bubbles from Impa's fur. Zelda guesses that it's the best she's going to get from Impa's fur. She rinses off all the suds that she can find and is immensely satisfied with her work. Impa's doing her weird grumble purr so Zelda guesses that she's also satisfied. 

She then walks to the shore to get the shears and scissors, collecting and returning over to Impa. As she returns Zelda realizes that she absolutely has no idea how to use the shears. Fuck it, she decides, it can't be that hard. She holds the ends of the shears and snips them a couple of times before bringing them to Impa's fur. The first couple of cuts are uneven and choppy, but soon she gets the hang of it and is able to cut closely to Impa's skin. The access fur runs down the rest of the stream freely, without clogging it so Zelda decides to leave it. Zelda effectively trims Impa's fur short on the sides, but free and flowing on the top, occasionally using the scissors to cut up the knots in her fur that she was unable to untangle before. By the time that she is done Impa's purr has gone from quiet to a low rumble, similar to an engine. She pats Impa's flank and rises, putting on her slightly damp clothes, forgoing her socks and shoes. 

When she looks over, Impa has risen from the water and moved close to Zelda. Then she shakes herself like a giant dog, too quickly for Zelda to form any form of escape. Zelda makes an indignant sound and Impa looks way too proud of herself as she leaves, her eyes glinting with amusement. Zelda wipes her face with her sleeves, still grumbling under her breath but she lets it go, opting instead to take a look at the maps she acquired. She also brings her phone out of her pocket and taps the utility app and then the compass option. She's not entirely sure that it'll work here but seeing that this is a parallel universe, it should match the Hyrule that the compass was aligned to. 

The compass span a couple of times before pointing that North was behind her to the west. She shuffled around to readjust the compass until North was pointing straight ahead of her. She then sits down spreading the map and using some rocks on the ground to keep it open. The map is large, about three feet long and wide, and the details inside of it were extensive and incredibly well lined so it was clearly made by a professional. Zelda traced her way down to Ordon Village on the map, finding it near the bottom. Then she found the Desert Province west of the village, but it seemed that there were no paths linking the desert to any roads on the map. That either meant that she needed to find a tunnel or a way over the rockpass. Sighing, Zelda reached over to her pack and pulled out a pencil. She marked both areas and wrote some notes into them, she also labeled Ordona's spring according to the map. She traced the road from it's spring out to the woods beyond, as the map only showed one main road to and from the forest, meaning that Zelda only had one safe way out. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by her stomach, as it finally made her hunger known. She realized that she practically hadn't eaten for an entire day. She'd gone on without much food before and she could now, but she really didn't want to. She needed to preserve her food, but she really needed to consume a larger quantity of water if she was going to try to drown both her hunger and thirst.

She put all of her items away inside the pack and then walked upstream for a couple of paces, near where Impa was resting and went down to the shore. She cupped her hands and brought mouthful after mouthful to her lips until her stomach practically sloshed, but her hunger had abated from the roar to a dull ache. She wiped her lips when she was finished and sighed, this was almost as bad as the time she was dumped from the orphanage when it over occupied. They left her alone with no money or food, just the clothes on her back and her backpack. She snorted, seeing the irony in her situation to her memory, at least this time she had a companion with her.

She still had to test the size of the saddle on Impa, unless Impa hated them then Zelda would be forced to adapt without one. Maybe she could bribe Impa to wear this small one until she had the means to get an expensive saddle. The Gerudos and the ogres were the main bullbo riders of her time so she could probably get one from them. She sighed and rose, she gathered all her things then walked over to where Impa was dosing and sat down next to her flank. Impa watched her with one eye until Zelda got comfortable then closed it. Zelda used the stolen leather as a makeshift blanket and huddled close to Impa. 

Having a successful couple of days meant that she could afford to take a long break. And by being this deep in the woods, they probably wouldn't be found. Zelda stretched one more time before exhaling deeply, she still needed to do so many things before she could reach the desert safely. But for now, she yawned, some sleep would do her well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zelda loves money and monster killing is surprisingly a staple job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, thanks for your comments and kudos, I really appreciate them! I'm trying to churn out the most of the story before I leave for college... Hopefully I can finish a lot more chapters before my classes start. 
> 
> Still not beta-read.
> 
> I take all comments, so don't hesitate to do so.

As Zelda and Impa made their way through the forest, they both noticed an increase in Hylian movement even with as south as they were. The soldiers stalked the woods in patrols, making round trips to Ordon Village. Zelda and Impa managed to evade most of the patrols and stole supplies from many of the soldiers' camps by using small doses of the LSD to distract them. Zelda managed to grab a set of clothes that were of her size, and seemingly stolen from another tribe of people. It was a set of light underclothes that came with an overshirt that draped almost to her knees. The shirt was designed with an eye with a tear and actually worked very similar to a poncho, it also had a hood which was perfect. It was a dangerous find as she had to sneak into a captain's tent in order to steal it.

On the way north Impa had found the spring in which the Great Spirit Faron lived. They spoke with him for a short time before it cryptically gave Zelda more insights to why she was there. It told them of a man who was not of this world, and had the magic and knowledge of a time far ahead of them. That he was the reasoning for the disturbance in the cycle they were in. It then concluded the conversation with another gift from the Goddesses: a short sword. Zelda couldn’t tell its origin, but it was clearly not Hylian as the blade was curved, but as Zelda swung the blade around it fit her perfectly and was very well balanced. Faron left with a short goodbye after the gift was bestowed, and Zelda and Impa continued on their way after resting there for two days. 

 

Zelda was extremely bothered by the information that Faron told them. A man who was not of this world? Could that possibly mean someone from a future like hers? The spirit did say that he had the magic skills and technological knowledge that it should be impossible for the people of the current time. The magic of her time seemed to be extremely different, hers was more focused on the speed and output of the magic at hand rather than favoring of form and technique she saw from both the soldiers and the mages she had encountered so far. It was confusing and aggravating, having just enough information to know why she was here, but not enough to know her entire purpose. 

Another peculiar thing that Zelda noticed, was about herself. Ever since she received the symbols on her hand there has been an odd sensation throughout her, like an itch that you can't scratch. It started as a small feeling, barely there and unassuming so she had waved it off as withdrawal finally getting to her. But as she spent more and more time in this world, the feeling grew to a constant pulse that she felt surrounding her. At times her vision swarmed her and shifted, all the color draining around her, and then it would snap back into place. This on top of her magical affinity growing in leaps and bounds, she felt exhausted. In one hand, she could teleport herself a short distance multiple times without fainting or feeling exertion. But on the other hand, she often found it difficult to sleep, as whispers plagued her wherever she went. Some were of conversations and laughter and others were of a guttural language that she couldn't understand but sent constant chills up her spine. 

And now that they reached the border, Zelda spent most of her time on Impa's back in her makeshift saddle. She found the best position to stay on the saddle but still able to lean all the way forward to sleep. If there was trouble Impa would buck a bit, which would wake Zelda no matter how deeply she slept. She yawned and tried to wake herself up more, they were approaching the fields which were infested with bulbins and other kinds of monsters. She had barely begun to practice with the short sword daily and her arms were sore from the exercises, proof that she was getting stronger. But she knew that she wasn't prepared for a full on fight with any of these monsters, they didn't fight like any of the gang members or muggers of her time. Both a blessing and a curse. 

Impa stopped at the entrance to the field, turning her head back to look at Zelda. They could hypothetically sprint all the way through the field, but Zelda wanted the experience of a full fight with weapons, even if she was on top of Impa's back. The plan was for Impa to herd a single bulbin off from the others in order for Zelda to spar. Zelda drew in a deep breath and shakily let it go. 

"Alright then, let's go." Zelda said as she pulled her sword from its sheathe at her hip. She gripped the makeshift saddle with her right hand and closed her thighs together to hold herself on securely to Impa. 

Impa roared and reared a bit before charging at the path, knocking and destroying the first couple of unfortunate bulbins. As she turned the final corner into the field, sunlight hit her eyes sharply before they adjusted to the brighter light. The field was like a picture brought to life, the green grass of the hills making it look lush and soft to the eye. Plants and small flowers danced in the breeze as Impa passed them, making petals fly up behind them. It was a stark contrast to the monsters that inhabited the field. From above were the kargarok, bird-like creatures that haunted the sky. They tended to circle their prey before diving down in small groups, mainly targeting unobservant prey before ripping them apart with their talons. They were not very pleasant to look at either. Unlike other birds of prey, they did not have the sleek build of them, instead they look like a hybrid between a bat and a chicken. Down below were the bulbin, ogres of varying sizes. The largest that Zelda had ever seen was well over 7 feet tall, its fangs sharpened and its eyes beady. The ones that inhabited the fields seemed to be the grunts, smaller than the elites but still strong with their brute force.

The high pitched shriek of the kargarok brought Zelda from her thoughts, as one swooped low to try to knock her off of Impa's back. Zelda panicked and started slashing wildly with her left hand screaming profanities at the kargarok. She managed to knick the leg and part of the wings, causing it to screech in pain as it hastily tried to retreat. Her heartbeat in her ears, Zelda held on tighter to the saddle as Impa sped up to shake the rest of the kargaroks. Eventually, Impa was able to find a bulbin isolated enough for Zelda to safely fight without interference. Impa scared it back a couple more feet before stopping to let Zelda dismount. 

Her hands were sweaty as she dismounted and she felt nauseated as she approached the bulbin. It was taunting at her, knowing that it couldn't charge or it would face Impa's wrathe. Zelda took in a deep breath, steeling herself. Impa rubbed her snout against Zelda's face, making her laugh. Zelda thanked her quietly and stepped slowly toward the bulbin. 

It was frothing mad, its teeth gnashing together from behind its bandana. It beat its club against the ground a couple of times before charging her. Zelda barely had enough time to raise her sword before the bulbin was upon her, its club landing a heavy blow and dropping Zelda to one knee. She panted, it was nearly impossible for her to stop one fucking attack from this thing. She heard Impa in the background begin to growl and stalk towards them. 

"I'm fine!" She shouted to Impa, sidestepping and making the bulbin trip from their draw. It staggered but barely staying on its feet. Taking the opportunity, she charged and slashed at its ugly mug, landing a shallow hit before the bulbin jumped back. It snarled at her and charged again. This time, instead of parrying the blow Zelda let it come at her, giving her the time to charge her magic and phase through the bulbin to land behind her. It made a noise of confusion and Zelda wasted no time to slash it deeply in the back across. It made a choked squeal as it died and disintegrated into black mist, leaving Zelda standing there panting. She fell on her ass and lied back. Well at least she figured out a fighting style. Hit and run, since she can't physically take many of the monsters head on. Huh, just like home then. She threw an arm over her face and breathed deeply, trying to calm down. This was only a fucking tiny fight. Impa stood over her and breathed into her face. Zelda made a face at that and sat up, letting herself be nudged into a standing position and retook her place upon Impa's back. She grinned, now for some real training. 

▲▲▲

There's something off about the desert air usually it's simply dry and arid, but today there's something tangible about it. 

Ganondorf doesn't like it at all. 

He stands high above the desert sand upon his fortress looking out into the horizon. Above him only stands the moon, bright and pure, giving him light as he ponders. He scans the horizon once more before muttering that after all these years he decides now to lose his senses. Yet, he doesn't truly believe that. A couple of months ago there was a huge magical disturbance in Hyrule, so great that even he could feel it across the vastness of the desert. It left a sheen of sorts, of leftover magic in the air and drew in the attention of the spirits more. 

He could feel Demise inside, waking for the first time in a couple of centuries, because of this event and he wanted to murder whomever was responsible. Years of being plagued by the Demon King, and years of being free with his actions finally his own, only for him to come back because of some freak accident the Princess probably started.

He threw out his thoughts and returned to his duties for a while. It was surprising, this lifetime was actually kind to him and to his people. A couple of years ago there had been groups of Hylians that moved to the border of the desert. Unlike their ancestors, they were actually kind and polite, offering to trade at equal rates and prices. Even as a child, he looked with surprise as his sisters were able to actually pay for food without getting cheated or having to reduce to steal and pillage from the nearby villages. They lived an easier life with the villages at the border.

Another thing that he did not expect from the villages was Link. Link was a young boy on one of the trading caravans from his village, barely a year or two younger than him. Link had walked straight up to Ganondorf and introduced himself, begging for him to be his friend. Ganondorf had rejected the first couple of times, thinking that it was a joke and began to avoid the Bearer of Courage. Yet Link still managed to find him no matter what tribe he went to. Eventually he caved after months of Link demanding and their friendship remains strong some twenty years later. 

Then about 2 weeks ago, there was another magical disturbance. Demise reared his head even further, and Ganondorf was extremely tempted to start his campaign across Hyrule a decade early. He reigned in and pushed Demise back down, burying himself in his duties to his people.

Three days later, Nabooru came to him with surprising news. The Princess and the entire Royal Family was assassinated and then the Princess had magically come back to life. The Hylians both blamed the Gerudo for both of these events and thought the fake princess to be a Gerudo plot to seize the throne. Ganondorf had sighed deeply, massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingers and trying to think happy thoughts. This explains why the magical disturbances happened the second time but not the first. 

He eventually gave into his rage upon the training field, brutally smashing training dummy after dummy until his rage was somewhat sated. He was surrounded in the dummy carnage and setting up another when Link found him. 

Link cleared his throat drawing Ganondorf's attention from murdering the next dummy and its entire family. 

"What's up?" Link signed to him, "Nabooru practically has the entire area quarantined, did you eat those fruit that make you gassy again?" 

Ganondorf snorted, "Hah no." He finishes setting up the next dummy. "The Princess was murdered, and as usual the Hylians will probably use the Gerudo people as a scapegoat for their sins." Ganondorf brings his sword from its sheathe and cuts the gut of the dummy before stabbing it and decapitating it. 

"Wait what?!" Link let out a whine of sorts as his fingers flew in his haste to sign. "Really she's dead? What the fuck G?"

"Don't look at me! I just heard the news a couple of hours ago, and now I probably have to set up the tribes for war. I know that the Hylians will try to strike back."

Ganondorf smashed another dummy into splinters.

Link scrubbed his face with both hands, his face and posture all panicked, "Oh shit, the Goddesses are going to murder me. I practically failed my sacred duty to the Triforce." 

Ganondorf threw some wood pieces at Link, attempting to lighten the mood. "Calm down, they didn't punish when you failed before."

Link half heartedly batted them away, "Hey! That's because it was part of the cycle and at least that you did it! Not some random ass assassin from who knows where!" Link shakily signed, but he was clearly less panicked. 

Ganondorf had told Link about their past lives and his entire history when Ganondorf was sixteen seasons and Link was fifteen seasons. Link had taken all the information in stride, with his curiosity making him ask Ganondorf about every last war and what had started it. He eventually saw that although Ganondorf was not entirely free of sin, neither were the Hylians, and they managed to get a complete understanding to the point where they could easily joke back and forth about their pasts. 

"I resent that. It was a completely natural and well thought out decision at the time."

They looked at each other, before bursting out in laughter. Link was wheezing by the time they were done. Ganondorf clapped a hand on Link's back, then looked around and winced. Ganondorf was never going to hear the end of all the wasted resources from Naboru and she was likely to make him clean it up himself. Link knew it too. They looked at each other again and both bolted for the exit before Nabooru could find them at the training field. 

▲▲▲

About four weeks have passed since Zelda was transported here and to be honest, she was thriving pretty well. Apparently when you kill some monsters they drop items and more importantly rupees. She was practically swimming in all the money she collected from killing the monsters. Not only had her wallet increased, but so did her experience and skill with the short sword. She could now channel her teleport faster and use it to dodge the stray attack easily. It was rigorous work, but fighting with the short sword and magic felt somewhat natural to her and she was already well versed in dirty back alley knife fights. 

Zelda and Impa had moved from the fields to enter the Lanayru province with Lake Hylia providing them with a phenomenal view. But as they stood on top they saw no safe way to get down. Impa could probably just jump from a low cliff and be fine, but for Zelda it would be dangerous and risky. They had wandered around the fields back and forth, occasionally killing some monsters. Zelda collected the dropped loot while cackling, no one loved free stuff more than her. 

Eventually they found a small house with a sign that read Falbi's Flight by Fowl, but the door was too small for Impa to fit. So Zelda decided to go in alone. Impa rubbed her snout on her cheek and Zelda entered the house. It was well lit inside but sparse in furniture. She descended the ramp and came into a large room filled with cuccos. When she walked up to one she was bombarded by an extremely loud "Welcome!" 

She turned to find a peculiarly dressed man with colorful make up smiling at her.

"Hey there, young miss and welcome to Falbi's Flight by Fowl!" He cocked his hip and put his hand on it. 

"Uh, yeah hi." Zelda replied, "Do you know a way down to the lake?" 

"Do I? Why of course! I run the most fun filled Cucco-powered trips around Lake Hylia! You will absolutely adore it!"

"Wait, you what?" Zelda sputtered, who went down to a lake on a fucking bird?

"Yes! Its entirely safe of course as long as you keep a good grip on your cucco! A ticked to ride to the Isle of Treasure is 20 rupees. How about it miss?"

"Uh, I'll take a rain check on that one. I'll sure to be back!" Zelda backtracked as she spoke and high tailed it out of the house. Impa was sitting in the grass on the path above and watching the butterflies flying around. 

"That way is a bust, the only way down there is holding the legs of a fucking chicken. A chicken Impa!" She emphasized with her hands. Impa snorted, clearly unimpressed. Impa waited for Zelda to climb her back before they set off exploring again. They avoided getting too close to the castle but they still managed to get around fairly well. 

There were a couple of Zora swimming in the river pretty close to the castle, and going back and forth bitching about what seemed to be their boss. Zelda and Impa crossed the bridge and carefully approached the edge of the shore. 

"I swear, if she tries to bribe me to clean all of the boats and her laundry one more time, I'm quitting!" The first one ranted.

 

"Hey don't be like that, this is one of the more decently paying jobs in the area! At least we can swim for a job." The second one replied. 

The third one snorted, "Pfft yeah this beats any guard training any day. We get to hang around Lake Hylia and the river!"

Their voices faded as they disappeared down the torch lit path. 

It seemed that there was a boat renting house somewhere down the river, the only problem is that she had to swim the river in order to get there, which was fine with Zelda as long as she could stay nice and dry on Impa's back. The problem of the situation was whether or not Impa could swim, well, at all. Zelda gave a look to Impa, patting her side. 

"So... Fancy a swim?" 

Impa was not pleased.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The truth is always a bitter pill.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the late update! I've been really busy settling into my college and with the first week of classes, I didn't really have time to write. But hey, over 100 hits! As a celebration and apology this chapter should be a bit longer than normal. 
> 
> Sorry again and thanks for your support and kudos.
> 
> Still not beta-read, as I don't have a beta. 
> 
> Please don't hesitate to comment!

Impa turned out to be a fantastic swimmer, but hated the concept of swimming all together. In all it took Zelda a shit ton of begging and bribing of the more sweeter fruits from the stores the next time they went to a village in order for Impa to even get into the water. From then Zelda lead the begrudging bullbo through the currents, down the torchlit path. They kept swimming until they found a dam of sorts made by a house. 

Impa swam to the shore and in a fit of pettiness, shook out her fur with Zelda still on her back. Zelda fell off, landing squarely on her ass and got completely drenched by the downpour from Impa's fur. Zelda wiped her face slowly with both hands, shaking them off with exaggerated flair. 

"Alright that's how you want to play it." She growled, then sprinted to the shore and kicked some water at Impa. It hit her square in the face, and Impa eyes turned murderous. She also went to the shore and jumped into it, causing a torrent of water to splash over Zelda. The water went everywhere, even into her mouth which she spat out like a spout. She then began splashing and kicking water with fervor at Impa, who splashed her back in turn. Zelda laughed and squealed whenever the cold water hit her and they eventually stopped when they were both drenched and tired from the water fight. 

They both waded to shore and plopped themselves down on the grass. Zelda unequipped her sword and gauntlet, then took off her jacket and shirt, squeezing them of water and placed them next to her to dry. She also took off her pants, dumping her phone which was thankfully somewhat dry from the water fight, and peeled her shoes and socks off. She rummaged around her pack and most of the items inside were dry as the front of Zelda had taken the brunt of the water attacks from Impa. She put in her sword and gauntlet then looked around until she found her stolen clothes at the bottom and put them on. 

The material was surprisingly sturdy, with leather around the chest and back area. Yet, the undergarments still felt incomplete. She supposed that it was supposed to come with armor, but the soldiers didn't manage to steal that. She grabbed the serape and put it on, the thick cloth warming her. This time Impa had gone a few feet away before shaking herself of the access water, which Zelda was grateful for. 

Her stomach grumbled loudly and she sighed, she guessed she could afford to eat some of her food. The bread that she stole was starting to stale a bit, but was still good. It had some bites in it from when she ate earlier. She took a bite and chewed slowly, frowning at the bland taste and looked around her. The grass was soft as she leant back, the clearing they landed in was small and beautiful. Nice and isolated with a small breeze from the tunnels that cooled the area. It seemed that everywhere she went, the land was awe inspiring.

She finished a quarter of her loaf and packed away the rest, lying back in the grass to look up at the sky. The sun had set and the stars had come out, filling the sky with millions of small lights along the night sky. Impa had dried herself while Zelda was eating but she now rose and sat next to Zelda, providing her with some extra body heat. Zelda cuddled in closer, enjoying the feeling of Impa's fur in her fingers. She closed her eyes and let Impa's slow breathing lull her to sleep. 

▲▲▲

_Zelda panted as she sprinted through the darkness, her instincts urging her to get away from here. But where was here? She couldn't see anything and she stumbled over herself a couple of times in her haste. She tripped and fell, making her land heavily on her hands and knees. She felt it then, a looming dark presence that shook her to her core. She picked herself up and blindly ran again, trying to escape the feeling but it grew and grew until it completely surrounded her. She skid to a stop, fear lodged deep in her chest making it difficult to breathe._

_"Hylia."_

_The voice was deep and grave, even from one word she could feel the power and anger inside of it. Oh how she felt the anger, like a dark sun burning her skin with the emotion. She cowered into herself, but that only brought laughter from the voice. She slammed her hands on her ears, trying in vain to block out the laughter but it filled her head and bounced around, taunting her and eating up her panicked cries. She wanted out, out of this hell hole and away from whatever this thing was._

_Suddenly, it gripped her by the throat easily lifting her from where she cowered on the ground. She choked and grappled the invisible force, pulling and scratching to no avail. She was already barely breathing before, but now with no source of oxygen she quickly became lightheaded and it grew worse as she continued to fight. Her actions grew feeble and her lungs burned brightly, like a fire was set to light inside her chest._

_The last thing she heard was the voice chuckling amusedly as it let her go._

Zelda bolted upright, coughing and greedily sucking in air to fill her aching lungs. Her stomach fought and violently shifted, causing her to turn to vomit in the grass next to her. She gagged and dry heaved, supporting herself on her hands and knees until the nausea had passed. She sat back, shivering and grabbing her hair. What the fuck was that? It was way to vivid to be a dream, and she hadn't taken any of the drugs she had. She hadn't had an episode like that since she was a child and even then it didn't affect her as harshly as this one had. 

Her thoughts were interrupted as Impa shoved her snout into Zelda's face, snorting in reassurance. Zelda leaned into Impa, her thoughts and her very soul still ragged from the extreme encounter she just had. Impa dragged Zelda away from the mess and vomit towards the shore of the river. The sound of the rushing water and the slow movement of Impa's body as she breathed calmed her as she copied Impa's breathing. 

They simply sat there for a while until they heard an extremely shrill shriek. Impa turned to find a woman in swimming gear panickedly looking at her. Impa's body completely blocked Zelda's view of the lady. 

"M-m-monster!" She cried. Impa huffed, affronted and Zelda snorted. It seemed that the woman hadn't seen Zelda sitting with the massive bulbo.

"Hey come on, she's not that ugly!" Zelda called out from where she sat. 

"Who said that?" The woman demanded. Zelda sighed, she really didn't want to get up, as she still felt raw from the dream, but then Impa shoved at her until she got up with a groan.

She leaned on Impa's head as retaliation and gave a charming smile to the startled lady. "Hi there! Do you know where I can buy a boat? Preferably a large one for my companion over here."

"You have a monster for a pet and you need a boat?" The lady asked bewilderedly.

"Uh, yeah. We want to get down to Lake Hylia but there's no way in Hell that I'm flying down there." Zelda smiled wider, verging on creepiness. 

"What in the world is 'Hell'," The lady mumbled, but clapped her hands together. "Anyway, I got a perfect boat for you as long as you got the rupees for it." The mention of money seemed to drive all of the woman's fear away. 

"You don't have to worry about the money at all." Zelda scoffs at the idea of not having enough, "Just let us get our things together and we'll meet you in your shop."

 

"Sounds like a plan, I'm Iza by the way. What was your name again? I didn't catch it." Iza cocked a hip. 

"I didn't give it, but it's Zelda. This fatass overhere is Impa." Impa snorted in betrayal and bucks her head, causing Zelda to fall off. 

"You'll have to give me a few to set up the boat, but then you guys can meet me by the storage entrance, should be big enough to fit in your... Companion?" 

"Take your time we're in no rush." Zelda grumbles from where she fell. 

"Alright, I'll see you soon!" Iza booked it back into her house. 

Zelda cheered, now that they had a chance to get a boat they weren't forced to endure whatever Hell flying down to the Lake would've been. She scurried around, avoiding the puddle of vomit, and picked up all her things. She equipped her sword on her hip and slip her left hand back into the gauntlet, where it fit completely snug with her clothes. Huh, it must've been used with a similar armor set. Zelda made sure that she had all of her maps and clothes and made her way up the hill towards the house. 

Impa was pretty excited for the boat rental too as she didn't have to be the one swimming. She grunted and pushed Zelda up the hill faster, eager to get their vehicle and get on with their journey. They walked up to a relatively large cabin, with a bridge that floated across the top of the river. It was pretty charming, with a more country aspect to the building and it had a door larger than Impa on the side. Zelda guessed that they brought and stored all of their extra boats in there, and was glad that they didn't have to worry about also having accommodate to Impa's massive bulk. 

Zelda leaned against the side of the house, relatively close to the door and Impa sat and rested on the grass nearby her. They waited for about twenty minutes before the door slammed open with a large _boom_ , causing both of them to jump at the sudden noise. 

"Alright! Come right in, I finally got everything set up!" Iza ushered them inside until they were in a lobby of sorts that connected to a tunnel where the river flowed through. Tied to the dock was a small boat about fifteen feet long and five feet wide, but looked to barely fit both Impa and Zelda inside it. 

"It's a little old, but still sturdy, I usually use it to send supplies down to Fyer and the villages on the border of the desert. It should do you both nicely." Iza explained, she opened a gate and walked down to the dock. 

 

"Now about the pricing." Iza said, "Usually I cost about 20 rupees a ride down the river with a guide, but seeing as it's not one of my regular boats I would say about... 100 rupees for the trip! What do you say?"

Zelda groaned, the pricing of the boat ride would consume most if not all of the money that she collected from slaying the bulbins on the field. On the other hand, she was not going to jump off and use a bird to fly down to the lake. She sighed and relented to the deal, taking off her pack and counted all 100 of the rupees and gave them over to Iza. Goodbye sweet sweet money, she sobbed internally.

"It's a deal." Zelda gruffly said, not happy at the investment. 

"Thanks a bunch!" Iza chortled as she pocketed the money. "I also called in my part timers to guide you guys down the river. When you see them, just throw the ropes that are attached to the front into the water and they'll take you down safely!"

Iza kept the boat still as Zelda and Impa boarded, Impa having to curl and lie down near the front while Zelda sat in the back to control the rudder. Once they were ready Zelda signaled to Iza, who cut them off and gave them a wave as the river current took them down the tunnel.   
▲▲▲

Zelda retched over the side of the boat as the rapid currents of the river caused the boat to hit another bunch of debris. She panted and wiped her mouth after, gripping the sides of the boat tightly to not get thrown off. Impa was clinging to the boat for dear life, as the boat bounced and turned out of control in the water. This was the worst deal ever, she wasn't prepared for how strong the currents of the river got later in the river so she couldn't control the rudder at all, and their so called 'guides' weren't doing much to help them.

They had met the 'guides' shortly after leaving the tunnel, and they turned out to be the three Zora that they had spied on earlier. They had greeted them shortly, and Zelda had thrown the ropes to them and they attached themselves to the boat. At first the ride was alright, the currents nice and easy to maneuver, but then they suddenly took a turn for the worse. The guides were of no use as they bickered about which direction that they wanted to take and ended up going all in different directions at the same time. She just hoped to the Goddesses that the ride was almost over as another bump caused her to stomach to twist. 

They made it through a couple more boulders and passes, with even more bumps into the side of the rocks. Zelda just huddled up into a corner and braced herself with her hands to minimize the impact each of the bumps made on her stomach. Eventually, they finally made it past the final clutch of boulders and down a smooth waterfall to enter into Lake Hylia. 

The part timers led the boat to the shore of some temple where Zelda scrambled to get off of the boat and onto solid land, she and Impa practically kissed the ground as soon as they met it. The Zora gave them a short farewell and began to take the boat back upstream, still bickering and left Impa and Zelda to sit on the ground, giving it some well deserved love. 

Zelda lied back on the ground, finally able to rest after that hellish ride. It felt as if hours had passed on the ride, when in reality it probably was about 15 minutes long. Her stomach felt queasy from just thinking about the ride but she sighed in relief as she would, hopefully, never have to endure it again. 

As they rested on the shore of the temple, Zelda still didn't feel completely at rest. There was an odd buzzing feeling that echoed in the back of her head, similar to the nightmare that she had earlier that morning. However, unlike the dream, the presence that she felt was not menacing or threatening. It was large like the other presence had been, but she felt invigorated at it rather than all consuming fear. She sat up, unable to stand the feeling any longer but if anything the feeling increased, drawing her towards the entrance of the temple and her feet unconsciously began walking her towards the massive doorway. 

The presence drew her inside of the temple, not letting up until she stood on a ledge high above a small body of water. Then the pressure let her go, making her gasp and recoil as she recovered from her trance. The temple was built inside the rock face, the water below her clearer than the water from the lake outside. There were vines climbing up the walls of the temple and curling around the pillars lining the body of water. 

From the water below her, a ball of light rose from the surface slowly. It rose until it was slightly above her head and then hovered there. Zelda reached up, the tips of her fingers almost grazing the light when a massive maw suddenly burst up to bite the ball, causing Zelda to scream profanities as she tripped backwards in her surprise. The maw belonged to a giant serpent, the spirit swirling in the water to then rise high above her and lean its head to stare down at her.

They looked at each other for a couple of seconds before Zelda realized she was still on the ground gaping at the spirit. She scrambled to her feet and hastily brushed her clothes clean. 

"I am Lanayru. You have done well to have come so far, O' Bearer of Wisdom." It's voice was smooth, like silk and wrapped around her like a snake would its prey. She shuddered slightly and scratched the back of her head, sheepish. 

"Uh, thanks I guess." She trailed off, awkward underneath its piercing gaze. She cleared her throat, but it spoke again before she could ask anything of it. 

"You have many questions, I know. Faron can be very confusing with how they explain things, I don't know why they were chosen for the role." The spirit laughed, "The tale that they told, let me reiterate it for you."

Zelda groaned internally, she just wanted a chance to actually speak to the spirit before it had a chance to disappear. The questions from when she spoke to Faron rose from the back of her mind. She didn't truly understand as to why she was here, sure the Princess of this time was murdered but as she understood it there were plenty of other Princesses that the Goddesses could've possibly called in order to fill the role. And who was the man that Faron had spoken of and how is he even linked to her role?

"Now bear witness and never forget it."

Her vision went dark and Zelda panicked, she couldn't see anything around her and worse she couldn't feel her body or any movements that she tried to make. 

"When all was chaos, the goddesses descended and gave order and life to the world."

Lanayru's voice echoed in her head, disorienting her. When she tried to reply she found that she couldn't. Then color flashed before her eyes and she witnessed three lights, red, blue and green, descend from above her. 

"They had granted power equally to all who dwelt in the light, and then returned to the heavens. The land where the goddesses descended came to be known as the sacred realm. In this land, they created an immense source of power named the Triforce."

From where the lights had landed, grass had grown underneath them and three triangles formed from the lights to form the symbol that was etched into the back of her hand. 

"This power could not be used by any god and was left as the Goddesses' hope for all mortals. This great power serves as the balance between the three forces and can change the appearance of the Sacred Realm to reflect the heart of the one who enters it. The Goddess Hylia, was tasked with the protection of the Sacred Realm, the world, and most of all the Triforce."

The lights left to rise back into the heavens, and a new light descended, its color a sky blue. It then began circling the Triforce. 

"The Demon King, Demise, soon learned of the omnipotent relic and raged upon the world. The battle was long and marred the once beautiful world."

From below her, a corrupted blood red rose and made its way slowly across the grass that had grown, leaving it to turn grey and disintegrate like ash. The light rose to meet the red torrent and they clashed violently again and again. 

"In a great effort to protect the world, Hylia gave up her power to seal Demise away. She turned human and was set to resurrect back into human form to forever protect the world. But she did not know that Demise would also resurrect."

The light then rose above the torrent and shone brightly until it was blinding to push the torrent down into the ground, then gave out to leave a small form under the Triforce. From the ground another small form rose, further away from the triforce, but a similar blood red. 

"Ages pass."

Over the land of the Triforce, the light form grows and prospers, the Triforce disappearing under a temple and a massive sword appears, locking the door to the temple. The scene shifts to the light form once more, and a castle and town appear, the Triforce becoming a symbol once more and a crown grows on the figures head as it begins to sit on a throne. 

It takes Zelda some time to realize that the reincarnations of Hylia become the royal family of Hyrule. It makes the most logical sense to her, but then she remembers the words of the ladies in Ordon, of how the entire family was murdered and her blood grows cold. 

The scene shifts again to the red form ripping the doors to the temple open and appearing before the Triforce. Zelda tries to cry out, to stop the figure, to do anything but she can't and she watches as the figure seizes the Triforce. However, to both their surprise the Triforce splits into three, the first part being absorbed by the red figure, the second being absorbed into the figure of Hylia's reincarnation, and the third into a child's form. 

"This is where your tale begins."

What, Zelda wants to scream, this is only a part of the entire story? Even this much is so much to handle. Does this mean that she is Hylia's reincarnation? Who are the other two forms then? Are they the other bearers that she is supposed to find? But she can't voice a single word. 

"In a possible future, the cycle of the Goddesses and spirits becomes corrupted and Hyrule starts anew."

In front of her, the Triforce pieces are ripped from each form, the pieces cracking from an unknown pressure before splintering into thousands of shards that fall all around her. The forms then become dull and they brighten at odd intervals, never becoming bright at the same time. 

"In this time, the era of magic declines and the era of machines begins. From this time, a man is born of both eras, of a mind as sharp as any of the machines and a spirit of magic as strong as one of the old. He becomes great and powerful in his time, creating great machines that brought his people further in their advancements." 

This time all three forms disappear and a new one forms, but not of any of the colors used before. She watches as the form grows from a small child playing with their magic to an adult cultivating new technology that are eerily similar to many of the tech of her timeline. 

"But despite his many talents, he is never able to create what he truly wants."

She watches as the man tries and fails to create machine after machine and watches as he goes further and further to reach his goal. She watches as his magic becomes corrupted as he leaves behind him a slew of broken machines and bodies alike and she can feel his obsession growing as the body count rises, the carnage of both sets of bodies nauseating her. 

"He pushes the limits, until one day."

She watches as the man cultivates magic and harnesses what seems to be a massive generator. When she sees what he is trying to create she nearly pukes. The horror he has created hangs limply from a giant hook that impales it through its shoulder. It has the body of what was once a human, but has many wires and machines sticking out of broken ends and ripped skin. She watches him in horror as he charges his magic and directs it at the body then everything is consumed inside of a massive explosion of magical energy.

The explosion should have burned the man along with the rest of his experiments but she watches as he's transported from his world to another one, this one. He is distorted and confused until he sees the remains of an ancient machine, its body limp and rusted over with plants growing along the sides. In the center of the body is a small green gem, tiny among the rest of the machine's form. The gem, although tiny emanates a large, pure power, and she realizes that a spirit rests within the machine. 

"He finds what he is looking for."

She watches as he corrupts the gem with his magic, a shrill shriek rising from the gem as it takes in the dark energy and she weeps for the spirit inside. The machine rises with the screech of metal on metal as the machine, unused for ages, finally wakes for its master. 

She gains all of her senses in a rush as Lanayru releases her from whatever mental hold it had her under. She falls to her knees and braces herself on her hands as she pants and nausea rolls in waves throughout her body. She doesn't know whether to laugh or cry, as she finally realizes the situation she's in. She's caught in a fight between fucking gods and a serial killer. She grips her hair and her tears fall heavily, staining the grass below her. 

Why her? She still doesn't understand why the Goddesses chose her, she's no one. An orphan from the streets, a broken dealer. Her cowardice isn't unknown to her, but she's survived on it, embraced it within her. She doesn't know what's so special about her and she doesn't want it. She doesn't want to be here. Zelda cries out all her frustration and fear coloring her scream. 

Please just let her go home. 

She feels Lanayru swirling above her, uneasy with her breakdown but she doesn't care. They all want her to go onto a suicide mission against a fucking maniac that has no qualms with brutally murdering her and deal with an even more vicious Demon King. 

Then she hears the familiar snort and grunt from Impa. Impa carefully bites the back of her serape and drags her back until she can bodily maneuver Zelda until Zelda is cuddled up close to her. Zelda goes unwillingly at first, until she's fully surrounded by her then she just gives up and shoves her face into Impa's fur, breathing in the familiar scent. She's so tired and weary, knowing of what she has to do, who she has to stop makes her head swim and makes fear eat her away. 

Even after she exhausts herself, she simply sits there with Impa. Impa grumbles but curls into Zelda more tightly, forcing herself into Zelda's personal space and making sure that Zelda understands that she is here with her and she is not leaving. Impa grumbles louder when Zelda doesn't react, and shoves her snout into Zelda's side and pushes her until Zelda finally relents and shoves back. Impa snorts in satisfaction then, moving her snout back and they simply rest there together. Impa's point is made loud and clear to Zelda, her stubbornness making Zelda smile and giving her courage. 

This is not her burden to bear alone.

**Author's Note:**

> Come message me at gerudianmango on tumblr :)


End file.
